An Anglicised term for a woman's headscarf tied below the chin, originally worn by Russian elderly women, but now Europe-wide...

Before the ballet at the Kremlin Palace, Putin was pictured wearing his wedding ring, but he must have removed it during the performance because he was not wearing it by the time he left and was interviewed.

Asked on Rossiya-24 television about longstanding rumours that the Putins no longer lived together, the 60-year-old Putin said: 'That is true.'

That seems kind of tacky, but maybe it plays better in Russia than it does here. Russians, at least those known by the Washington Post (a suspect lot for sure) reacted with a yawn.

Lyudmila Putin said it had been a 'our common decision. And our marriage is over due to the fact that we barely see each other.'

Asked whether they were divorced, Lyudmila said it was a 'civilised divorce'.

But neither clarified whether they were legally divorced and Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he did not know.

The obviously staged interview made no mention of Alina Kabayeva, a 30-year-old former gymnast who is rumoured to have been Putin's mistress for years.

Miss Kabayeva, who is alleged to have given birth to Putin's lovechild, is now a politician after retiring from a glittering career in gymnastics in which she represented her country at the Olympics twice.

Rumours about Putin's alleged affair with Miss Kabayeva first surfaced five years ago when a Russian newspaper owned by the oligarch Alexander Lebedev reported that Putin wanted to marry his gymnast mistress.

A rhythmic, contortionist athlete would seem to be an appropriate match.

Putin angrily denied the story, and the newspaper was closed down shortly afterwards, which many attributed to Putin's rage. Further stories later emerged claiming that Miss Kabayeva had had a baby by the president, but both sides denied them.

Mr and Mrs Putin had last been seen in public together at Putin's inauguration to his third presidential term on May 7, 2012.

A year seems a suitable length of time. How long before Putin brings Alina out of the closet?

Married just a few weeks short of 30 years, the Putins announced the decision on state television after attending a ballet performance Thursday evening in the Kremlin.

Russian leaders, unlike their counterparts in the West, generally keep their personal lives well out of public view. Mikhail Gorbachev's wife Raisa raised many Russians' hackles by her visibility, flair for fashionable dress and forthright comments.

But Putin also has made a point of supporting traditional social values and appearing at holiday masses of the Orthodox Church.